Victoriana: missionary sister in Papua, New Guinea

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

"AUSTRALIAN A

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Victoriana.

Yictoriana :

MISSIONARY SISTER IN PAPUA-

NEW GUINEA.

BY

SISTER JULIA.

eeelong :

H. THACKER. PRINTER, RYRIE STREET.
1907.

"Ask of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possessions."— Psalm ii. 8.

JL

TO

MY FELLOW-WORKERS
IN

NEW GUINEA;

AND THE
MISSES F. ROYCE AND M. E. WILKINSON,

WHOSE SISTERLY SYMPATHY AND

KINDLY ASSISTANCE MADE POSSIBLE

THE EARLY PUBLICATION OF THESE

SKETCHES OF LIFE IN

NEW GUINEA,

I AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATE
ITS PAGES.

r

FOREWORD.

These sketches are written with the two-fold
object of showing those desirous of taking up the
position of a Missionary Sister in the South Seas
something of the conditions under which they will
be called to labour, and to awaken in the people of
Australia a practical interest in the thousands of
people dwelling in Papua, for whom, as a Nation,
they have now become responsible.

May God quicken His people, and enable them
to give themselves and their money to the work
of bringing these brown men and women of
Australia's new possession to a knowledge and love
of the one true God ; for with this knowledge only
shall come deliverance from the thraldom of
heathen superstition and sin.

All profits accruing from the sale of this book
are to be devoted to the cause of the New Guinea
Mission.

The Author is indebted to the following friends
for photos kindly lent for reproduction in this
volume, viz. : — Miss E. Caulfield, Miss J. Tinney,
Mrs. E. J. Glew, and the Revs. Abel and Osborne.

JULIA BENJAMIN.

Geelong,

November, 1907,

CONTENTS.

Page

—First Impressions 9

—School Teaching, and Girls in the Home 13

—Proposals 24

—Village Visiting 29

-Holiday Trips 39

—Hurricanes and Drought 47

—Measles, and a Break-down 51

—An Awakening 56

—Gospel Triumphs 63

Missionary Meetings 65

Feasting and Trading 08

Sickness and Death 73

Papua's Need 76

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Dobu Mission House.

Ready for the Dance, Trobiands.

Orphanage, and Waifs Rescued at Dobu.

Church and Girls' School at Dobu.

A Trading Canoe.

Sacred House.

Decorated for the Feast.

Part of Dobu Mission Station.

Action Song at Missionary Meeting.

People Bowing before Chief.

A. Village Belle.

Mat-making in New Guinea.

Married Couple at Home.

Doreka, Niece of a Chief.

Pandanus Tree.

Sister's Sewing Class.

Bath in Clam Shell.

Boys' School and Students at Back of Church.

Food for Sale at Kiriwina.

Orchids of New Guinea.

Sham Fight, Kiriwina.

Dressmaking in New Guinea.

Banyan Tree.

After the Hurricane, Dobu.

Missionary Schooner.

Cocoanut Palm.

Native Girls Preparing Meal.

Yams Ready for Storage.

Village School at Kiriwina.

Chief's Food House, Trobiands.

A Village Dandy.

Paw Paw Tree.

Sunset Hour at Dobu.

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CHAPTER 1.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

ICTORIANA," as her name implies, was
born in the State of Victoria, Australia,
and for about twenty years lived in one
of its largest seaport towns.

In obedience to the unmistakable call of God,
she took up the position of a missionary sister in
Papua, and for ten years laboured among the
women and girls of the D'Entrecasteaux group of
islands, and the following pages contain a few of
her experiences among the people of those sunny
isles.

Not being one of the favoured few who escape
sea-sickness, Victoriana had a far from pleasant
time on the voyage from Sydney to Dobu, but her
most disagreeable recollections of the journey are
connected with the rats, which by night played
hide-and-seek among her boxes. The cockroaches,
too, swarmed her berth in myriads, and she felt as
she imagines a disabled beetle must feel while
being bodily transported by scores of ants.

She had been prepared, on landing in Papua,
to find everything very different from what she
had been used to in Australia, but she was totally
unprepared for what she did see, and for many
days the strangeness of it all made her long for the
old familiar scenes, and especially for the sight of
faces of people of her own race.

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10

VICTORIANA :

The houses, built on piles in the sea, from
the verandahs of which brown-skinned boys were
fishing ; the men with their wonderful mops of
hair ; the women with their pretty, grass-fringed
skirts ; and the children clothed only in sunshine,
dirt and beads ; all made her feel how far away
she was from her Australian home.

The scene of her new labours was an island
about four miles square, containing a population
of something like fifteen hundred people. It was
an ideal spot, surrounded by high hills dovered
with every imaginable shade of green ; lovely
valleys, full of beautiful palms, mosses and ferns ;
and on all sides a vision of the ever restless sea,
over which the sun set with such glory as to bring
to remembrance the "Sea or gla.ss, mingled with
fire."

She found on arrival that there were four other
white workers on the mission station ; the
missionary, "Taubada," his wife, "Marama," and
two sisters.

Two weatherboard eo.ttages formed homes for
them ; Taubada and Marama with their only
child occupying one, and the sisters the other.

A settlement of fifty young people had been
formed, and these brown lads and lasses gave the
workers plenty of scope for exercising the Christian
graces. They ranged in age from a babe of three
months, to young men and women of eighteen
years.

Marama had the charge of five babies under
three years of age ; four of whom had been rescued
from being buried alive with their dead mothers —
one of the many heathen practices which the
mission strove so earnestly to abolish.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 11

Victoriana found that fourteen girls were cared
for at the sisters' home, and that she rru.sl ta e
her part with the other sisters in clothing, feeding
and training them to become useful members of

society.

/

Mini, Nanisi, Neguaia, Gelemedo, Siputete,
lameliko, Baeta, Daisy, Tobeli, Siweniai, laseine,
Mumunori, and Lelewaia, were the names of the
girls, who were as full of animal spirits and mis-
chief as any party of girls in Australia might be.

Victoriana found her days fully occupied with
school teaching, village visiting, study of the
language, sewing, etc., and every third week was
responsible for the housekeeping at the sisters'
home, looking after the fourteen girls at their
work and play, conducting prayers with them
morning and evening, and occasionally acting as
head nurse to the five babies.

As the work in all its phases was explained,
and many of the revolting heathen customs touched;
upon, the heart of the new worker sank within
her at the vastness of the work, and the power of
the evil one over the lives of the people, so that
many times she had to plead for strength to over-
come the desire to take the next boat home. She
felt quite unfitted for her arduous duties, and had
constantly to remind herself that the "All power"
which was given to Christ was at the disposal of
every one of His needy children.

As the days went on, however, these feelings of
loneliness gradually passed away, and many
touches of humour came to lighten the day's toil.
Besides, everywhere were objects and customs
strange to her, and so full of interest as effectually
to withdraw her thoughts from herself, and centre
them upon the things which lay around her.

12

VICTORIANA :

The native churches were not unlike great
wicker-work baskets. In many of them the pulpits
and ministers' seats could not fail to raise a
smile. One of the latter had the advertisement of
baby's feeding-bottle written beautifully large upon
it.

It was always interesting to watch the village
natives gather for services. The women and girls
came in good time, but the men and boys delayed
their entrance until the service was commenced,
then came in by twos and threes, each carrying a
large bread-fruit leaf to serve the purpose of a
seat.

When once seated upon these leaves, they were
loth to arise, lest the wind should sportively seize
their fragile cushions and carry them beyond their
reach.

A month after Victoriana's arrival, Marama
was called away to another mission station for a
few weeks, and Victoriana was called upon to take
care of the five babies in the nursery.

Poor wee mites ! They little knew how un-
skilled were the hands which during the next fort-
night ministered to their needs. However, there
was plenty of love in the heart for the bonny
brown bairns, with their curly heads and big black
eyes, though they were a big handful for one who
had never nursed a baby in her life. Gideon was
three years, David two years, Hannah and Ellie
not twelve months, and little Mary just four
months old. Needless to say, the two youngest
needed attention both day and night, and
Victoriana was very thankful when Marama
returned, and once more took the babies into her
capable hands.

A MISSIONARY SJSTER IN NEW GUINEA.

13

CHAPTER 11.

SCHOOL TEACHING, AND GIRLS IN THE HOME.

School teaching required a large amount of
patience, for the children had never been used to
discipline, and it was only persistence on the part
of the sister, and the offering of substantial prizes
for attendance which at last brought regular
scholars from the villages.

But school teaching was not all routine ; a
large measure of humour entered into it, and
helped to break the monotony of the day.

It was no unusual thing if, in the middle of a
lesson, there was a general exodus of scholars to
witness a wild pig chase, or the successful return of
the men from a turtle or dugong fishing ex-
pedition.

Sometimes the children were kept from school
to mind the baby, but it more often happened that
the nursing was required for the pig of a few days
old ; for in the Papuan household the pig is of
equal importance with the baby, and is, in fact,
treated to just the same amount of maternal care.

Several times the trirls came to the school with
these pets in their arms, and begged permission to
bring them in, as otherwise they might lose their
chance of an attendance prize. On one occasion

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VICTORIANA :

the permission was given. The novel scholar be-
haved well for an hour or so, and on his becoming
troublesome, his little caretaker said, "Please,
sister, allow me to go home now, for the pig
wants a drink."

Reading, writing and sewing lessons were easy
for these Papuans, but arithmetic presented many
unexpected difficulties. It was amusing to see the
children counting on their fingers and toes, and if
their own would not supply the number required,
going on to a neighbour's to meet the lack.

One day the younger children were having an
arithmetic lesson of the simplest kind, and were
asked how many people one child's father and
mother would make, if added together. "'.Two/'
was the quick answer of one of the little ones.
Before Victoriana could reply, one of the married
girls from a class near turned to the child, and
said, "Oh, you foolish one, what do you want to
untie them for ? Do you not know they are
married, and so only count as one ? " Not
thinking it advisable to challenge the statement,
the teacher changed the subject, and thus allowed
the arithmetical error to go unconnected.

Victoriana felt it was a privilege to be allowed
to teach the children, for though at times they
were so inattentive and troublesome that she
wondered if they would ever learn anything, yet
there were other days when teaching and learning
seemed equally pleasant, and the sister felt it was
more than worth while to devote herself to the
children, and by love strive to attract them to
her, that she in turn might point them to Jesus as
their Friend and Saviour.

The training of the girls, in the home was the
most difficult part of Victoriana's work. They

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 15

came of their own free will, and begged to be
allowed to remain at the home, yet would
not willingly submit to the few rule& made for the
guidance of their conduct, and for the carrying out
of the household duties ; consequently there was
often friction.

When a fault was pointed out to one of the
girls, she would take offence, and run off to
her village, remaining at home for a few hours,
weeks or months, according to her mood, after-
wards coming back with confessions of sorrow for
past misdeeds, and many promises of good
behaviour for the future.

When Victoriana had been at Dobu sixteen
months one of the other sisters became so seriously
ill that the doctor ordered her to leave Papua, and,
as the second sister had to accompany her sick
friend to Australia, Victorian a was for six months
left in sole charge of the sisters' home, and during
that time only the knowlede-e that while these
girls were with her, they were being kept from the
terrible heathen practices of the village, encouraged
her to ke%p them in spite of their vagaries..

Owing to marriages, flight, and the dismissal
of two for persistent thieving, their number had
dwindled to eight, and, as these soon managed to
persuade themselves that they were very much
overworked, their discontent was for weeks very
distracting.

At last Victoriana told them that henceforth
she would do her own housework until they were
willing to come and help cheerfully.

She thought that they would have been
glad of the holiday, and quite expected to be
taken at her word for a few days at all events,
but, to her surprise and delight, a few hours after

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VICTORIANA :

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she had forbidden them to come into the house,
the eight girls marched up to the room where she
was sitting, and asked permission to come in and
express their sorrow for the past, and beg to be
allowed to do the house work as usual.

"No," Victoriana said, "I am pleased if you
are really sorry for being so naughty, but I think
it will be better for me to do the work by myself
for a few days/*

Then Mini, the spokeswoman of the party, said,
"Sisita, our repentance is very real, and we have
prayed together that God would forgive us, and
help us to be good ; therefore we want you please
to show that you forgive us, by allowing us to
do the work as usual. We are troubled at the
thought of not being allowed to do any work,
because we remember the Bible says, 'those who
will not work, 'must not eat/ '

" The food need not trouble you, girls," the
sister said, "for you may take what you need just
as usual, but you cannot come into the house
unless you promise faithfully to obey ^he rules,
and work without grumbling."

There was a chorus of voices, "We do promise,
sisita," and one earl added, "We have truly swal-
lowed all our discontent."

From that time there was a decided improve-
ment in the conduct of the girls, and Victoriana
never had quite as much trouble with them after-
wards.

Nanisi Sineginai's marriage left quite a blank
in the home. As. a child she was considered the
plainest girl on the mission settlement, and as she
grew to young womanhood, only the soul shining
through her large purple-shaded eyes, and her
pleasant smile, redeemed her from meriting the

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A TRADING CANOE.

DECORATED FOR THE FEAST

PART OF DOBU MISSION STATION.

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 17

same reputation. When about twelve years old
she became a Christian, and from that time
appeared to set herself to help all with whom she
came in contact. She was the only girl
whom Victoriana never had occasion to reprove
for disobedience, impudence or sullenness, and her
work in the house was always done with cheerful-
ness, and to the best of her ability. A habit of
singing softly in a true mellow voice made it
pleasant to have her about the house.

When about fifteen years of age, Nanisi became
very much concerned about her mother's salvation,
and earnestly begged her to become a Christian,
and it was with a very real joy that she informed
the sister one Sunday morning that her mother
wished to entor the enquirers' class.

Some months later she went home for a fort-
night to assist with the harvesting, and during
that time she called the village people together
morning and evening for a short service which she
conducted, and before the fortnight had expired
she had persuaded nine of her relatives to renounce
heathenism, and embrace Christianity. It would
be difficult to say wherein the influence of the girl
lay : she certainly managed to do good wherever
she happened to be. She married a student, who
afterwards became one of the first teachers sent
out from Dobu to a station of his own. She and
her husband are now doiner splendid work towards
the uplifting of their countrymen and women.

Nanisi taught her children to call Victoriana
"grandmother," and these bonny wee brownies
often came to the sister's home for a toy or
biscuit as a token of special relationship.

Mei Tobeli was another girl who well repaid
all the teaching and training given her in the home.

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VICTORIANA

When about ten years of age she begged Victoriana
to allow her to enter the home, as. it was not
possible for her to be good in her village.

Her mother was a heathen woman who was
utterly opposed to the child's wish to be brought
under Christian teaching, and did her utmost to
frighten her away from school and church ; but
one day when Tobeli with tears in her eyes begged
the sister to take her away from the village
because her mother was trying to force her into a
life of immorality, Victoriana yielded to her re-
quest, and told the child to get into her boat and
go with her to the mission station.

The poor girl was trembling with fear, and her
state of mind was pitiable when, on the boat
reaching the settlement, a young woman from her
village came up to her and said, 'Your mother
sent me to say that she told you your baby
brother would die if you persisted in going to the
mission station, and he is dead/' There was no
doubt that the cruel and unnatural mother had
killed the baby as a punishment for her daughter,
who had been devotedly attached to her little
brother. For a few moments Tobeli seemed
stunned by the news, and it was not until
Victoriana put her hand on her shoulder and
whispered that she must not fret about the baby,
who was now "Safe in the arms of Jesus," thali the
tears filled her eyes, and her face lost the strained
and hunted look it had worn since she had left the
village.

Turning to the messenger, she said, "Tell my
mother I have heard that my brother is dead, and
have made up my mind to stay with the mission-
aries for ever."

All the persuasions and threats brought to bear
upon her during the next few years failed to alter

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 19

her determination. She became a most useful
member of the sisters' household, and after a few
years was baptised and received into full member-
ship of the church, taking the name of Mei (May),
which suited her well, as she was one of the most
refined and gentle of girls.

When about seventeen years of age she married
Lemeki, a very promising young student who is
now doing splendid work as an evangelist among
his own people. This young couple, with their
vsturdy twelve months old baby, are a great credit
to the mission.

Ginaula was certainly the most troublesome
girl who entered the home in Victoriana's time.
She must have been quite eighteen years old, and
big for her age, and her unwieldy size earned for
her the title of "Bulamakau" (a bull or a cow).
She had a very quarrelsome nature, and when the
other girls answered her nasty speeches by calling
her "Bulamakau," she used to climb into a high
tree and threaten to commit suicide by throwing
herself from its projecting branches.

Several times the sister was called to go out on
the beach and prevent this, and when Ginaula
came down and was taken to task, she cried, and
said the other girls* were so unkind that she felt it
would be better to die than endure their teasing.
One morning, after the girls had been teasing her,
Ginaula, whose turn it was to cook their morning
meal, punished them by picking out the poorest
food she could find, and cooking it so badly that
the girls could scarcely touch it. When they told
the sister their meal had been spoiled, she said
Ginaula must cook the evening meal as a punish-
ment. Ginaula said she would not cook another
meal — that she would see the girls starve first.

20

VICTORIANA :

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Shortly afterwards word was brought to
Victoriana that Ginaula had gathered up all her
belongings and intended to run away to her village.
This she proceeded to do, and as she was passing
through the girls' gardens on her way, the sister
intercepted her, and tried to make her see that it
was wrong for her to leave without permission :
but Ginaula would not listen to reason ; all she
did was to cry loudly, and wring her hands as
though in great trouble. Victoriana told her that
if she really wished to return to her home, she
might do so next morning, but she would not be
allowed to leave until she cooked the girls' evening
meal ; meanwhile her basket of things would be
taken care of at the sisters' home.

Ginaula looked after her valuables with longing
eyes, and finally followed them to the home, where
the sister gave her the vegetables to prepare. She
quietly took the basket and placed it on the
ground ; then, apparently overcome by a re-
vulsion of feeling, she kicked it over, shouting that
she would never prepare food for the other girls to
eat, and ran out on the beach, and into the sea
until the water reached her waist, when she turned
and dared anyone to follow her. An hour spent in
the water cooled both her body and her temper,
and at seven o'clock she came and asked for the
basket of food, and, though Victoriana helped her
to prepare it, nine o'clock struck before the hungry
girls got their meal. Ginaula refused to eat.

When everyone had settled down for the night,
she made her way to an adjacent village, where she
stole a canoe and rowed away to her home on a
neighbouring island. The next day the owners
borrowed a boat and set out to redeem their
property, and, to the sister's surprise, Ginaula

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 21

returned with them, laughing about her escapade
of the previous night.

Victoriana told her she must return to her
home, whereupon she burst into tears, and said,
"If you will forgive me, Sisita, I will never be so
naughty again."

"•But how am I to know that you will not
always be quarrelling with the other girls as you
have been doing ?" asked the sister.

"Well," she said, "Will you make them under-
stand they must not call me 'Bulamakau' again, or
tell me that Ginaula is a boy's name ; for if they
do these things I am sure to get angry and do
what 1 ought not to do."

"Very well/' the sister answered, "You shall
have a new name. We will call you Lena, after a
very good girl in Australia, and surely with such
a nice name you will try and be a good girl."

"Oh, yes, Lena is a lovely name. 1 will always
be good if you will call me that."

For a few nights the possessor of the new
name was as. good as could be desired, but one
evening, after the curfew had rung, a little girl
came to Victoriana in a great fright, saying,
"Please, Sister, come to our house quickly, for
Lena has thrown herself from the roof, and is lying
on the ground insensible."

The sister got a restorative and hurried down
to the girls' quarters, to find Lena in an apparent
faint, surrounded by seven terrified girls. Taking
the candle in her hand, Victoriana looked closely
at the recumbent figure, and saw at a glance that
the insensibility was only feigned, for, although
the girl refused to move or to speak, the colour of
her face was natural, and her eyelids flickered. It
transpired that a quarrel had again taken place

22

VICTORIANA :

amongst the girls, and that directly she thought
them to be asleep, Ginaula had climbed up to the
ridge-pole of the house, and had thrown herself
down from there. As, she had taken the very wise
precaution of first throwing down a large qtuilt
upon which to fall, no injury was done, though the
girls were very badly frightened.

The next day, when the sister took her to task,
and talked once more about her leaving the
station, she begged so hard to be given one more
chance, that she was allowed to remain, but only
for a short time, for her next escapade was to
deliberately pour almost boiling water over one of
the youngest children, and Victoriana then felt it
was not safe to keep her any longer, and therefore,
with feelings mixed with relief and regret, she saw
Lena safely on to a canoe bound for her own
home.

On May the 14th of the same year, Bibitoga, a
sister to Mini, the brightest girl in the home,
brought a baby of three weeks old to Victoriana,
saying, "Sister, you are our friend, and, this baby,
which was born in o.ur village, we have saved from
being buried alive with his dead mother. The women
wanted to bury it, but we said 'No/ we will take
it to the sister, and Mini will help her take care
of it."

Marama gladly took this, the sixth little waif
saved from a cruel death, into the nursery. It was
gratifying to know that two of these little ones had
been rescued by village girls, both of whom had
lived for some time in the sisters' home.

Little Sioni. who is now about twelve months
old, was the last baby Victoriana had the privilege
of taking to the mission nursery at Dobu.

His mother was a pitiable object ; frightful sores
covered the upper part of her body, causing the

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 23

sinews of the neck to shrivel up until the head
seemed to come down on to the chest. Her
deformity made it impossible for her to nurse her
child properly, therefore she made no objection
when the sister asked her to give him up, but put
the four days old baby into her arms, saying
pathetically, "Take him, for if he remains with me
he will only die." A lady in New Zealand sends
five pounds yearly for Sioni's support, in memory
of her own son, who had lately died. Her prayer
is that in the days to come this New Guinea lad
will become a teacher among his own people.

Other babies are supported by Sunday Schools
and Christiian Endeavour Societies in Australia and
New Zealand.

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VICTORIANA :

CHAPTER III.

PROPOSALS.

The young Papuans have a method of their
own of settling love affairs. One proposal of
marriage is very simply made : — The would-be
bridegroom puts out his tongue, and, if his suit is
agreeable, the lady puts hers out in response, and
the matter is settled.

More /of ten than not it is the girl who proposes,
and at Dobu it often happened that girls secured
young Fijian teachers as husbands through sheer
persistence in personal application.

Although the girls are not too bashful to pro-
pose, yet, after they have been accepted, they have
a strong objection to being recognised when in the
vicinity of their lovers. Frequently they hide
behind bushes, or run fpr any suitable shelter on
the approach of the young men to whom they are
engaged. Both men and maidens always flatly deny
any imputation of mutual fondness or prospect of
their union right up to the moment the minister
unites them in marriage. But, though their methods
may seem very amusing and strange to us, it is only
fair to say that our own methods strike the
Papuans as equally amusing. On the occasion of
an engagement which took place at the mission
house, much laughter was indulged in by the

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 25

natives at the expense of their white teachers.
Wherever the happy couple wandered, they found
themselves loliowed by an intensely interested
audience. On one occasion a group 01 girls asK#d
the lady if it were true that she was going to marry
her hanccc. "Yes, she answered, whereupon they
rolled upon the ground in their excess 01 merriment,
gasping out between their shouts of laughter, "t>he
*u>o she will marry him — she doesn t deny it/'

J£ieni, the oldest girl in the home, had an
amusing proposal ol marriage, isaia ^a student)
asKed laubada to ask the sister to ask Mem what
she would say to him 11 he as^ed her to marry
him. Jiileni said she would say, iNo. When this
answer was taken to isaia, he was not at all taken
aback. "Oh, well/' he remarked, "ask Mereseini if
she will have me. " Meriseim replied in the amrm-
ative, and in three days they were married.

JNanisi and Kube, two ol the station girls, were
engaged to loane and ttepuioni, two students. A
few nights before the weddings were to take place,
tSepuloni dreamed that iNamsi (who was engaged
to his friend) gave him a beautiful white garment.
This dream made him think he must be engaged to
the wrong girl. On being told of his friend's
dream, and its result on JSepuloni's mind, loane
expressed perfect willingness to exchange girls, if
the prospective brides made no objection. So the
proposal was put before the girls, and as neither of
them had any objection to offer, the exchange took
place, and shortly afterwards the double wedding
occurred, and the young couples have lived happily
together up to the present.

The first Papuan marriage witnessed by Vic-
toriana, was that of a station girl to a boy who
had been living with a Fijian teacher on a
neighbouring island. The bride was dressed in a

VICTORIANA :

K. .s in

pink print frock, and wore a wreath of white
flowers on her glossy black hair. The bridegroom
wore a loin cloth and garlands of coloured leaves,
while every visible inch of his body was polished
with cocoanut oil, until it shone like burnished
copper. Directly the service was over, the young
couple left the church by different doors, the bride
in tears at the thought of parting with her
mission companions. The husband allowed a very
short time for grief, for, putting a paddle into her
unwilling hands, he told her that she must assist
in getting their canoe across the ^traits to their
new home.

Another wedding, at which six couples were
united, was amusingly unconventional. Each
couple was accompanied by two maids and grooms-
men, all of whom remained sitting during the
ceremony. The party of thirty-six sat upon prettily
woven mats in the front of the -church, and each
couple stood in turn to go through the ceremony.

When the missionary had united three couples,
the fourth bridegroom stood, but his bride, instead
of rising at his side, began very vigorously to
massage her foot, which had become numbed
through sitting so long. Her maids, went to her
help, and in a few minutes she was able to take
her place beside the waiting groom, the; remaining
couples quietly massaging their feet as they
awaited their turn to. be united.

After the ceremony was over the bridesmaids
linked their arms in those of the brides, and,
helping them to their feet, marched down, the aisle
and out of the church amid a shower of flower
petals and rice. When the brides had left the church,
the groomsmen took the bridegrooms by the hand,
and led them after their brides to the house of a

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 27

Samoan teacher, where the wedding feast had been
prepared. The shamefacodness and laggard steps
of the bridegrooms reminded Victoriana of certain
small boys she had seen caught at mischief and led
off for punishment.

At the wedding breakfast a small table was set
in one corner of the room for the English guests,
who were provided with one fowl, one plate, and
one knife and fork for every two people. The native
guests were seated on the floor in a large circle, in
the centre of which were placed huge wooden bowls
of pork, vegetables, fowls and cabin biscuits. A
rather unconventional wedding-breakfast acoo.rding
to our ideas of the fitness of things ! The brides
were much too shy to do more than make a pre-
tence at eating, but the rest of the party set to
with a right good will, and did full justice to the
good things provided.

The following, however, was the quaintest
wedding which Victoriana has ever assisted at. It
took place during a time of much sickness. The
missionary's wife and daughter were away in
Australia, and when Taubada took ill, Victoriana
had to act as amateur nurse. It was while she
was acting in this capacity that she was called
upon to witness a double wedding.

Taubada was in bed propped up with pillows.
The two couples, who had come from another
island with the Fijian teacher and the native
constable from their district, stood a few yards
away, looking most self-conscious and uncomfort-
able in the midst of such unwonted surroundings.
When the sister, in compliance with the request of
the missionary, took the Bible to the first bride-
groom, her gravity underwent a severe strain when
she saw the look of terror which crossed the man's

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I5«s

28

VICTORIANA

face, and the movement towards flight which he
made when Taubada said, "U da awamuina" (you
kiss it). 'There being only the one gender in the
native dialect, the man was uncertain as to
whether he was expected to kiss the bride or the
book, until the missionary, noticing his dilemma,
said, "Kiss the Book, man ; not the woman."

During that part of the service which required
the clasping of hands, the young people were so
shy that Yictoriana had to hold their clasped
hands together for them, and almost before the
benediction was pronounced, the whole party had
fled the room as though fronn a pestilence, and
Taubada and Victoriana were free to indulge in
their long-suppressed lausrhter.

n "

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 20

CHAPTER IV.

VILLAGE VISITING.

Besides conducting schools, Victoriana used to
visit the villages to which the children belonged,
attend to the sick, and hold .short services for the
women and children.

The mothers often threatened to keep their
daughters away from school, because the sister did
not pay them for attendance, and the relationship
between teacher and scholars was at all times a
most unusual, and sometimes a very amusing, one.

The girls were exceedingly quick with their
excuses and answers, and equally quick to resent
correction. On one occasion Victoriana was
obliged to keep one of the girls in after school-
hours to do a short punishment lesson. When this
was completed, and the exercise corrected, the
teacher handed the slate back to the girl with a
smile, whereupon the offended lassie remarked with
verve, "You need not smile at me, for your smile
will not be returned either to-day or for many
days ; this will be your punishment for keeping me
in."

On another occasion a dozen of the girls were
given a mild punishment for being late, and when
the sister asked them if they would come to
school in good time in the future, they answered

:wr

1

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,-3

'Ijll

VICTORIANA .

promptly, "Yes, we will come the nifrht before,
and you can give us our breakfasts."

Many instances might be <nven of answers of
this kind, but a few will suffice to show how
difficult it is to convince the young1 Papuan of the
necessity of submitting to guidance. Victoriana
was ill on one occasion, and unable to attend the
school for two days. On the third day she waited
in vain for the girls to put in an appearance in
answer to the bell, and finally, was compelled to
go ikito the villages and look for them. The
villages seemed destitute of girls, but after much
difficulty Victoriana succeeded in capturing one,
and demanded an explanation. "Well, was the
answer she got, "You stayed away for two days,
and we decided that you must be punished by being
made to wait in vain for us."

The babies were supposed to have their bath
before 6.30, the hour for prayers. One morning the
girls overslept, and the children did not get their
morning wash in time. The sister asked the nurses;
to try and prevent such a thing happening again.
The gentle remonstrance was resented, for at four
o'clock the same afternoon, tub, soap, and towels
were placed at Victoriana's door, with the remark
that it was to 'be hoped that she would be satisfied
that the tub was brought early enough this time !

The fact that parents expected their children to
be paid for attending school should not be
surprising. Presents were expected on every
possible occasion, and church services were not
exempted. Frequently, when a dose of medicine
had been administered, the recipient would ask
where the gift was which was to pay for the taking
of the nasty physic, and several times elderly people
came to Victoriana for a gift, because they had

V*

<*$!*-,

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 31

wept when she went for a holiday, and rejoiced on
her return.

One of the greatest difficulties in the path of
the worker in Papua is that of prevailing upon the
people to bathe regularly, and the greatest hard
ship is the necessity for working among them while
they are unwashed. The girls frequently said that
if washing would make them as white as English
people there would be some sense in bathing, but
as their color never altered however frequently they
bathed, it was unreasonable to ask them to wash
themselves every day. "A little cocoanut oil
rubbed over the body," they said, "was much less
trouble, and far more effective in improving their
personal appearance.'' Red and black paint was
often used to '-beautify the faces of the scholars, and
they could never understand the non-appreciation
of the white people for their fantastic markings on
forehead, nose, cheek and chin. Victoriana asked a
bright young woman why she had painted her face,
and was answered with the pert remark, "For the
same reason, Si sit a, as you wear those spectacles ;
for ornament only" ; and it was very difficult to
persuade the woman that the spectacles were a
necessity.

On visiting fresh villages the sister was often
embarrassed by the minute inspection to which she
was subjected, and the candid remarks about her
personal appearance which were passed. Her rather
slim figure was understood to denote that she had
come from spirit-land, and obviously required very
little food. A long nose was considered a mark of
beauty, and Victoriana was frequently reminded of
the length of her own : a gift was invariably
demanded as a return for the compliment. During
the course of the inspection, the sister's hairpins
had almost always to be taken out, so that her

*«tf

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UJJJJ'

32

VICTORIANA '

hair might fall about her shoulders, and its length be
accurately ascertained. Next would come a request
for the sleeve of her dress to be turned up, so that
the whiteness of her arm might be marvelled upon.
On several occasions she was not permitted to
depart until she had taken off her boots, and dis-
played her feet ; and so on through a long series
of requests more or less embarrassing to a
European. The final request generally was that
she should take out her teeth. Accounts were rife
of a missionary who had once performed this feat
in an adiacent village, and its repetition was ex-
pected of every white visitor since his time.

White people were expected to be equal to any
and every emergency which mig-ht arise, and in the
native mind the limit set to their powers was often*
surprising. One day Victoriana was accosted by a
young man, who handed her a broken tooth, with
the request that she should mend it for him. When
she told him the task was beyond her powers, he
remarked, "You know you could if you wished, for
white people can do anything. However, if you
cannot mend the tooth, give me a present to show
you sympathise with me over losing it."

Another source of crreat amusement to Vic-
toriana was the names of her scholars. Coincident
with their belief in the wide-spread powers of
white people, was their admiration for everything
European. An English word was a thing to be
much admired, and the man and woman who
could call their child bv an English name
were extremely proud of the fact ; hence,
among Victoriana's roll call were included
the following names : — "Dynamytee," "Boatee,"
"Cockeroachee," "Come-onee," and "I'll gie-yer
a-slappee." This last name excited Victoriana's
curiosity so that she could not resist a question as

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*

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 33

to the origin, when she learned that the proud
father had once worked on a boat with a European
whose habit it was to remark to him on occasions,
'Til gie-yer-a-slap !"

The villagers soon learned to regard Victoriana
as a friend, and she spent many happy days
among the mothers and elder sisters of her
scholars.

One day, while trying to persuade a young
woman to give up evil customs, she received what
was a very common excuse, "I cannot understand
Christianity." To her surprise and delight, an old
woman who was standing near said, "I was once
like you ; I could not understand Christianity ;
but now I know all about it. I will tell you how
it was. When the missionaries came to Dobu,
I was in the libu. (The libu is a tiny house in
which widows and widowers are incarcerated for
twelve months or two years, during which time
they are not allowed to bathe).

"The following year we had a good harvest,
and were able to make a big mourning feast, so
that I was released from the libu, and able to go
to church.

"'For months I went to the church and listened
to what the missionary had to say, but his story
had no meaning for me; He said we were all
sinners, but that God loved us and wanted to save
us from our sins, and would do so if we would
only repent, and believe in Jesus. His Son, who
had died in our stead.

"It was all like a foreign language to me ; I
did not feel I was a sinner, until some months later
four young men of Dobu told the missionary they
repented of their sins, and were willing to become
Christians.

.

34

VICTORIANA :

"The Sunday following, Taubada told us that
his heart was full of joy over the decision of these
four young men, and asked that if any others were
willing to embrace Christianity, they should
remain behind after the service, and he would give
the men further teaching, and Marama would teach
the women.

"I remained behind, not because I understood,
but just to please him.

"I thought Marama might tell us something
new, but she just repeated that we were all very
sinful, but God loved us and wanted us to be
good.

"Then she knelt down with us and asked us to
repeat a short prayer after her : — 'God, my heart
is dark ; let Thy light shine in, and dispel the
darkness, and forgive my sins, for Jesus' sake/

"I repeated the prayer after her that Sunday
and many Sundays, without knowing what I
asked for, until suddenly, the meaning of it came
to me, and I felt I was sinful, and my heart grew
heavy as I thought of all the dreadful things I
had done.

"I became very miserable, and thought God's
light could never shine into my heart, because,
having been in the libu so long, my body was very
black. But, after bathing in very hot water, I got
a sharp piece of metal and scratched myself all
over to let the light shine in. Then I knelt down
and prayed : — '0 God, let Thy light shine into my
heart, and take away all my sin, for Jesus' sake/
And oh, the joy of it ! He heard me, and sent in
His light, which dispelled all the darkness, and
filled my heart with the knowledge that my sins
were all pardoned, and I had become Jesu's
woman for ever."

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 35

Of course she spoke in her own dialect, but I
have translated what she said as nearly as it is
possible to do so, and this testimony, given
voluntarily by old Miriam, set the sister's heart
dancing within her, for it was grand to know that
a woman who for nearly threescore years had
indulged in all the heathen practices of sorcery,
immorality and cannibalism, could yet be taught
by God's spirit to seek and obtain salvation from
sin, through Christ.

Miriam's life evidenced the change of heart,
and not very long after the recital of her con-
version, she was taken ill, and when her relatives
wished to call the sorcerer to her aid, she said,
"No, I will not have him near me, he has no
power. All power is with God, and I have prayed
that if it is His will I may get better ; but if it is
His will for me to die, I am quite willing to go to
His beautiful village."

The sister, who was present, asked her, "How
will you get an entry into that village, Miriam ?"

"Jesus will tell them to open the gate for
me," came the weak answer ; and with a smile on
her face, Miriam's spirit passed peacefully away.

On one occasion one of the Dobu villages was
plunged into great grief over the death of a very
promising young man. He and several others
were making a plantation for a trader at
Bwaidoga, a place about fifty miles from Dobu.

When they had planted a certain number of
cocoanuts, the natives of the place told them that
they had reached the limit of the purchased land.

The boys, taking no heed to this information,
continued planting, and the owners of the ground
became so angered, that they attacked them

*/•"» .*•

36

VICTORIANA

during the night, captured three of them, and
killed and ate them. The two who managed to
escape swam across to their tiny cutter, which was
anchored near, and left the place.

Sabebwai, who was among the killed, had
been a professing Christian, and his poor mother
came to the mission station in a state of terrible
grief. She walked up and down, showing one by
one the articles he had left behind, all the time
crying loudly, "My son, my son ! Come and claim
your belongings. Oh, my son ! Why do you
not come ? My heart aches for you, my son ;l Oh,
my son !"

For a few short months she fretted and starved
herself, then died of a broken heart.

On one of her visits to the villages, Victoriana
heard that a young woman in one of the hill
villages was dying, and that her relatives had
declared their intention of burying the six months
old baby with her. The sister accordingly hurried
off to see what could be done.

The angel of death had already set his seal
upon the mother's face, and very little could be
done for her ; therefore she turned her attention
to the wailing babe, which the old grandmother
was trying to pacify with pieces of yam.

At first the old woman and the other relatives
would not hear of giving up the baby, but after
Victoriana had talked to them for a while, they
put the child into her arms, saying, "Take her,
then ; you are the very stem of persistence." So
the baby was taken to the mission station, and
though for months she appeared to be very
delicate, she lived, and was baptised Marie. She
is to-day the bonny little five-year-old pet of the
mission house,

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 37

Her old grandmother was a supposed witch,
and a few months after her daughter's death she
came to. the mission station for protection from
her own people, who threatened to kill her because
of her witchcraft. Needless to say, she was
allowed to remain on the settlement. She is to-
day a very earnest Christian.

European missionaries in Papua are greatly
assisted in their work by teachers who come from
Fiji and Samoa and other South Sea Islands, to
help their New Guinea brothers. Indeed, a dark-
skinned worker can often reach the hearts of the
people where a white man or woman would fail.
We are so very different from the Papuan ; our
manners and customs, our speech and our appear-
ance, all set a wide gulf between us, and it is to
bridge this gulf that the black worker comes
among us. Their habits of life are very much like
those of the Papuans themselves ; the language is
quickly acquired, and the South Sea Islander goes
about among the Papuans almost as one of them-
selves.

in addition to the workers who come from
distant seas, many of the Papuans themselves are
trained as teachers, and their work is very
valuable, and their number steadily increasing.

These Papuan teachers and students often
amuse the English members of their congregations
by their quaint and original rendering of Scripture
stories. One of these lads took for his text on one
occasion, "They brought a young ass unto Him."
"My first point is," he began, "that we are all
asses ; my second, that we are all young asses ;
and thirdly, we must all be brought to the Lord
Jesus Christ if we are to be of any real use in the
world in which we live."

3>

38

VICTORIANA :

Another teacher, after telling the story of
Jonah, made the application as follows : — "Jonah
refused to obey God about going to Nineveh, there-
fore God ruled that a whale should swallow him
and carry him as far as that land. The whale
obeyed God, and threw Jonah up on the beach at
Nineveh. The people repented at the first
preaching of Jonah, but what about you New
Guinea people ? Did you repent at the first
preaching of the Jonah God sent to you ? No,
indeed ! Many whales in the shape of steamers
have come to. our shores, and many Jonahs in the
shape of these white missionaries, sisters, and
South Sea Island teachers have been sent to you,
and yet many of you are still unrepentant. The
people of Nineveh are better than you, and will
one day stand up in judgment against you, be-
cause they repented at the first preaching of Jonah,
and you did not."

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 39

CHAPTER V.

HOLIDAY TRIPS.

Victoriana's first holiday was spent at
Kiriwina, where she had a quiet and restful time, T"*
not seeing much of the place, however, as the
missionary and his wife were both very ill with
fever.

Sickness was rife throughout the villages,
where people were dying by scores, of dysentery.

There are four very large villages adjacent to
the mission house at Kiriwina, each one consist-
ing of about one hundred and fifty houses, which
are here built on the ground, and not on piles, as
is the case with Dobuan houses. The houses were
huddled so closely together that it was scarcely
possible to pass between them.

The villages are shockingly dirty, and reek
with disease germs, owing to the fact that many
of the people bury their dead just in front of their
houses. Victoriana saw a newly-made grave
within three feet of the doorways of two houses,
and was told that babies were actually buried
inside the houses under the earthen floors. One can
only wonder how it is the people did not die by
hundreds instead of by scores.

A law has been made that all dead bodies
should be removed from the villages, and that npno

40

VICTORIANA :

shall be buried within their limits, but as there
was no government official present to enforce the
law, the people were doing just as they liked, in
spite of warnings about the matter.

The Kiriwina natives are much taller and
stronger-looking than the Dobuans, and generally
a much finer race of people, but they are in a very
wild state at present, the majority apparently
untouched by the Gospel. The Sabbath is as any
other day, the people building houses or canoes,
working in the gardens, or going out fishing, just
as their fancy dictates.

There is encouragement for the workers, how-
ever, in the fact that those who do. attend the
services, listen very attentively, and it is good to
see the young converts go quietly into the church
and reverently bow their heads in prayer, for it
must be very hard for them to do this before all
their unbelieving friends. May God keep them
faithful, and add many others to their number.

Victoriana took with her seven girls to
Kiriwina, and though they caused her some little
trouble and anxiety, they rewarded her for it by
showing more love and unselfishness towards her
than she had thought possible from native children.

On the journey over, which was a very stormy
one, the girls constituted themselves the sister's
guardians, and took turns of their own free will at
sitting beside her as she lay on the deck, to prevent
her from being thrown overboard as the boat rolled
from side to side. For one whole day and night
the vessel pitched tremendously, and great waves
washed the decks, and drenched the unfortunate
passengers to the skin.

During the night Victoriana several times
begged the girls to go below into the one small

-' )

SISTER'S SEWING CLASS

BATH IN CLAM SHELL.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 41

cabin, and try to sleep, but they would not hear of
leaving her, and two of them stayed with her
through the night, saying, "They could not leave
their mother, in case a bigger wave than usual
should come, and she should be washed away and
drowned." Victoriana will never forget their
thoughtful care of her during that night of storm.

During the day, too, when she was too weak
to hold an umbrella up against the heavy wind,
they sat for hours holding a mat above her as a
shield from the sun, and to her question, 4'Are
you not tired '(" they simply said, "We must shield
you from the sun, or else you will die, and we
would have no mother."

Victoriana visited the wonderful boiling springs
on Ferguson Island, and when within about half a
mile of the geysers, the sound of boiling water and
escaping steam made her think she must be
approaching some immense factory. All along the
route, the boys and girls warned the sister con-
tinually to be careful where she tro.d, for springs of
boiling water and of mud were very numerous.

It was wonderful to see the water boiling
fiercely in basin-like holes in the rocks, and then
to come upon a great well full of boiling mud,
while further on, springs of all shapes and sizes
were boiling vigorously, some of them containing a
sort of red slush, with a light as of fire resting
upon them, which made some of the party say,
"Surely /4sa gabu gabu must be near" (the place
of everlasting burning).

It is difficult to describe the wonder and the
beauty of the five geysers all in action. At times
the whole place was enveloped in steam, while every
few minutes one or two, and sometimes all five
together, would shoot up immense columns of

VICTORIANA :

boiling water to the height of thirty, forty or fifty
feet, sending showers of spray falling on every side
like diamonds. It was difficult to say which were
the more beautiful — the big geysers shooting up
their immense bodies of water, or the tiny ones
continually playing like fairy fountains.

Victoriana could only marvel, and adore the
great Creator, as she witnessed one of the grandest
and most awe-inspiring works of His hands, while
she found comfort in the knowledge that it is the
great God of Love Who holds such forces in His
keeping.

The ground surrounding the springs was white,
and hard-baked, sending back an echo of one's
footsteps

In parts branches of trees had fallen, and
become petrified, looking very lovely as the
crystallized formation glistened in the tropical
sunlight. Leaves which fell from the trees within
reach of the falling spray quickly became petrified,
and Victoriana collected a number of these stone
leaves, also specimens of incrusted wood and stone
which somewhat resemble coral in appearance.

In a small gently- boiling spring the girls
cooked their yams, and these yams were sampled,
and found very good. "Oh," said one of the girls,
"if we could only have one of these springs in our
village, fthen we need never light a fire to cook our
food, or wash our clothes." But Victoriana did not
echo her wish, for, much as she had enjoyed her
visit, she had no desire to remain in such a warm
spot, and with willing feet made her way to Deidei,
where the boat waited to take the party home.

Victoriana also had a trip in the " Dove " to
Sanaroa, an island fifteen miles away, where she
was appointed to take the Sunday services in the

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 43

different sections, and thoroughly enjoyed the
beautiful scenery which surrounded the anchorage,

It took two hours to reach the scene of her
morning's appointment, and she had to rise before
daylight in order to catch the tide. Part of the
journey led through a long passage in the middle
of a mangrove swamp. The boys had to pole the
boat, as the stream was too narrow to allow of
rowing, and at high tide it was delightful to. be
poled along. The clear water, with the intertwining
mangrove overhead softening the rays of the fierce
sun, and in many places forming a complete shield.

On coming out of this natural bower, they
entered what appeared to be a lake with a perfect
little island in the centre. All was so beautiful and
so still, that one might easily fancy one was in an
enchanted land.

From here a twenty minutes' row across the
open sea brought Victoriana to her destination,
and after drinking a cocoanut, she went into the
church, where a hundred people had gathered for
the service.

The dialect of these people was slightly different
from that spoken at Dobu, but the congregation
listened very attentively, and joined very heartily
in the singing.

After the service the sister partook of a meal
of fish and yam, which the teacher had prepared
for her, then started back to the "Dove/

On reaching the passage through the mangrove,
which had given such unalloyed pleasure on the
morning's trip, all were astonished at the trans-
formation which had taken place. The tide had
gone down, leaving the trees, which before had
hung so gracefully over the stream, high and dry

IF

VICTORIANA :

>Vrl

overhead, and instead of the lovely green bowers
sweeping the water's edge, there was nothing but
mud-covered, knotted mangrove roots to meet the
eye. Altogether, the scene was a dreary one, and
quite unlike the one which had delighted them a
few hours before. As they poled along, they were
in constant dread of finding themselves stuck fast
in the swamp, and Victoriana shuddered, whenever
the boat scraped on the rocks, at the thought of
spending many hours there, waiting for the tide to
rise. Fortunately, they managed to get through,
and it was a vast relief to be once more on the
open sea.

In June, 1901, Victoriana spent a few days at
Port Moresby, the Capital of Papua.

With government officials and storekeepers,
there is a white population of about twenty. The
London Missionary Society has a station there,
and a good field of work in the hundreds of natives
living on the spot.

Miss Newell and Victoriana were the guests of
Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, at the mission house, during
their four days' stay in the Port.

The work is conducted on much the same lines
as in other parts of Papua, and the results
obtained from the work among the school children
appear to be very encouraging.

Mr. Hunt had just returned from a month's
stay at Daru, the place where Mr. Chalmers and
Mr. Tompkins met their death.

These deaths were not an act of revenge or
premeditation on the part of the natives, but it
appears that one of the customs in this district is
to build sacred houses for the propitiation bf
certain spirits, and, whenever one of these sacred
houses or "Dubus" is built, the same custom

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 45

demands that it shall be sanctified
blood.

with human

One such house had just been completed when
Mr. Chalmers, and his party entered the bay in
their boat, and the natives decided to kill them,
rather than make a raid on some distant village.

The people professed to be very friendly, and
invited all the party to go ashore, When they
reached the village they were killed almost im-
mediately, and the bodies were divided among the
people of at least ten villages.

It is very sad to know that these natives are
still in the utter darkness of heathenism and
cannibalism, probably never having heard the
name of Christ, and yet they are living within
nine days' steam from Sydney.

The London Missionary Society suffered a
terrible loss in the death of these workers, but as
it has always been acknowledged that the blood
of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, so the
fellow- workers of Mr. Chalmers and his colleague
are praying that their death may be the means in
God's, hands of opening up this hitherto closed
part of Papua to the light of the Gospel.

Mr. Hunt told Victoriana that the directors of
the society had written to the government, asking
that whatever was thought fit and proper to do
in the way of punishing the natives, should be
done by the government in their protection of
British subjects, and not as a revenge upon the
people for the death of the missionaries.

The government of New Guinea was exceedingly
considerate for the missionaries who accompanied
the punitive expedition, and consulted their wishes
and opinions in every way. All the sacred houses

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in the villages implicated were burned to the
ground, and the war canoes destroyed.

The government party were obliged to defend
themselves against the attacks of the natives,
some twenty-five of the latter being killed. Only one
prisoner was taken, and kept at Samaria for
twelve months, to be taught something of law
and order. At the end of that time he was taken
back to his own people.

On the Saturday morning before they left
Port Moresby, Miss Newell and Victoriana draped
the pulpit of the pretty little English church, in
preparation for the memorial service which was to
be held on the following day. They were obliged
to miss this service, however, as their vessel left
for Samaria at daylight on Sunday.

;•*«

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. M

CHAPTER VI.

HURRICANES AND DROUGHT.

Until quite recently Papua was considered to
be out of the hurricane /one : but two severe
storms of hurricane force experienced during the
past few years have quite dispelled that illusion.

The first occurred in 1898.

Throughout the evening preceding the first of
these outbursts, the wind was very boisterous, but
no one dreamed of what was to follow.

At four a.m., all in the sisters' home were
awakened by the increase of the wind to cyclonic
force, and the simultaneous collapse of the fence
that surrounded the home, and the crash of a very
large casuarina tree near by.

The sisters hastened to the windows, and were
appalled by the desolation of the scene which met
their eyes. The gardens were a wilderness of
blackened shrubs and trees, and the month-old
fence lay in ruins. Native houses were unroofed,
and many had fallen from their supports ; trees
were uprooted, and their scattered trunks and
branches completed the picture of devastation and
ruin.

For hours the wind continued to blow with
tremendous force, shaking the cottage to its very

48

VICTORIANA

foundation, and making the inmates
whether it would stand the strain.

wonder

The village people, whose homes had been laid
in ruins, fled to the mission station for protection,
and nearly a hundred women and children crowded
into the sisters' home. They were full of fear, as
only once in the memory of the oldest person
living had such a storm occurred before.

At daylight the cry was raised that the boats
anchored near were in danger. Two tiny sailing
vessels belonging to other stations, and two whale
boats belonging to Dobu were being tossed about
by mountainous seas, and as the anxious people
watched, they saw them one by one disappear from
sight.

Their hearts were full of distress for the dozen
or more boys, who were on the disappearing boats.

Nothing, however, could be done, save commend
them to the care of Him, "Who holds the sea in
the hollow of His hands."

The wind continued, and soon unroofed the
mission house kitchen, whereupon the walls
collapsed, and it was only with the greatest
difficulty that the kitchen utensils were secured
and taken to a place of safety.

The rain, meanwhile, came down in such
torrents, that the natives asked, "If there was
going to be a flood as in the days of Noah."

Towards evening the wind moderated, but the
rain continued to pour down, and the extra rain-
fall, combined with an extraordinary high tide,
flooded the low-lying parts of the mission prop.erty,
so that those who walked between the two mission
houses found the water up to their knees.

BOYS' SCHOOL AND STUDENTS AT THE
BACK OF CHURCH.

FOOD FOR SALE AT KIRIWINA.

ORCHIDS OF NEW GUINEA

SHAM FIGHT, KIRIWINA.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 49

On Sunday morning the only remaining
mission boat was despatched with a good crew in
search of the mission boys and boats, and these
returned in the evening with the gratifying news
that all the boys were safe, though three of their
boats had foundered under them.

Two of the boys were in the water for about
ten hours, and with the help of oars, swam about
five miles. One of them was picked up in a state
of great exhaustion, and was unable to move for
some hours afterwards.

The havoc wrought by the cyclone was extreme.
In every village and plantation scores of valuable
fruit trees were destroyed, and scarcely a house
remained intact.

It was remarkable that on Dobu no lives were
lost ; for on neighbouring islands there was great
loss of life. On Normandhy fifteen deaths occurred,
and many people were killed or injured through
trees falling upon them.

Two years later another cyclone devastated the
same places, greatly terrifying the poor natives,
who could not account for two such catastrophies
occurring in such a short time. Many of them
attributed it to the presence of so many white
people ; some actually thinking that one of the
missionaries was responsible for the hurricanes,
as, noting the rapidly falling barometer, he
warned them that either very heavy rains or wind
was approachine.

The second cyclone was more disastrous than
the first, for many of the root-crops were destroyed
by floods and landslips, as well as a larger number
of fruit trees. The hurricane was followed by a
severe drought, and many died from starvation.

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50

VICTORIANA :

The missionaries helped those within reach of
their stations, but there were thousands who for
months had a terrible struggle for existence ; and
when at length the dearth was over, many died
through immoderate eating of unripe fruit and
vegetables. Several children, now healthy and
happy, were rescued by missionaries from death by
starvation.

Many cases of thieving were reported. In one
place a man found stealing was buried alive, and
in another village a boy had his ears cut off for
the same offence.

Altogether, for nearly twelve months, the poor
Papuans were in a sad plight. Some of them put
their trouble down to the advent of Christianity,
which, they said, had caused the breaking away
from old customs, and so angered the spirits of
their ancestors.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 51

-

Pv-

CHAPTER VII.

MEASLES, AND A BREAKDOWN.

An epidemic of measles spread from the
Northern parts of Queensland, to Papua and the
neighbouring islands, and in places where there
were no white people to help and advise the natives
there was great loss of life. Very few fatal cases
occurred among the people of the mission settle-
ments and the villages sufficiently near for
visitation.

For nearly two months Victoriana, with the
rest of the mission workers, was kept busy day
by day attending to as many as sixty or seventy
sick people. This extra strain caused her health
to break down, and for almost a fortnight she had
to lie on a sofa ; after which she was sent away
to another mission station for a few weeks' rest
and change.

The missionary kindly arranged for a teacher
and nine students to take the sister with a
student's wife as companion, in a nine-oared whale-
boat to Bwaidogai, a station fifty miles from Dobu.
The journey was to take three days, so that the
sister might not be overtaxed.

Victoriana will always remember the longest
journey she ever took in a rowing boat. Sea-
sickness, added to the great physical weakness

•rs$n

52

VICTORIANA

which was upon her, made the trip exceedingly
tedious, but throughout the three days and nights
she had a very deep consciousness of the presence
of an unseen Friend, "even the Friend that sticketh
closer than a brother" ; and again and again found
herself repeating the well-known chorus : —

"Saviour, I am resting, resting in the joy of what

Thou art,

I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving
heart."

It was ten a.m. when they left Dobu, and
thrice the boat had to be put back for articles
forgotten by the boys. First of all they found
they had no cooking pot on board ; they next
remembered that they would need an axe for
chopping wood for cooking purposes ; and finally,
when they were making the third start, and the
sister went through an inventory of all they would
require, it was found that the water jars, had been
left behind.

Wind and tide being contrary, the boys found
rowing difficult, and by two p.m. they were glad
to anchor for the night at a small island about
fifteen miles from Dobu. The teacher and his wife
were away, but the sister took possession of their
house, which was small and not at all comfortable,
though it was watertight, which was more than
could be said of the last native house Victoriana
had slept in ; for on that occasion she had been
compelled to hold an umbrella up all night, only
occasionally between the heavy showers getting a
few minutes' sleep.

Before daylight the following morning the boys
were awake, and one of them made a cup of tea
for the sister, who felt very ill. Another start
was made, and, there being a fair wind, by twelve,

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 53

V

noon, Kileta, the next stopping place was reached.
The boys anchored the boat close into the shore,
and two of them lifted the sister, and carried her
to a pretty little spot near a tiny rivulet, where
they soon had a large fire made, and a saucepan
of food co.oking. Half an hour later a small
portion of bush turkey and yams was brought to
Victoriana in the saucepan lid, but she had to
refuse the boys' food, and content herself with a
biscuit and a cup of tea.

Refreshed by two hours' rest, the boys again
took to the oars until sunset, when they began to
look for a good anchorage for the night. The waters
were full of reefs, and several times their attempts
to enter were frustrated through the boat striking
one of these. At last there was a tremendous
splash in the water near the boat, and a boy said,
"We are clear of the reefs now, for that was a
crocodile, and we must be near the creek in
Hugh's Bay, where they swarm ; and that is
the only safe anchorage in these parts."
Accordingly the boat was taken in, and tremendous
fires lighted to keep off •, the crocodiles.

The boys put up a small awning for the sister,
and then made themselves beds of leaves and
small branches quite close to the fires, and, after
taking another meal and joining heartily in a hymn
and prayer they composed themselves to sleep,
but not before the teacher had loaded his gun,
ready for any of the very undesirable neighbours
who might think of paying a visit from the creek.

The heat from the fires, and myriads of
mosquitoes and large ants made sleep an utter
impossibility for Victoriana, and it seemed to her
tired senses that daylight would never come.

V

VlCTORIANA :

The natives slept well, so that it was difficult
to awaken them for an early start on the last stage
of the journey.

By noon that day the party reached the
mission station, and welcome indeed to Victoriana
was the sight of white faces, and the thought of
once more having the comforts of civilisation.
Their pleasure on arriving was increased by the
fact that they were all drenched and shivering, from
four hours' exposure to a heavy rain.

The missionary and his wife made them all
very comfortable, and the distribution of ten
grains of quinine apiece prevented any ill effects
following the wetting.

Victoriana spent three weeks at Bwaidoga, and
returned to Dobu very much strengthened and re-
freshed by the rest and the great kindness of the
missionary and his wife.

One Sunday she was much struck with the
sermon of a young Dobuan teacher. He took the
Baptism of Christ as his subject, and, as many to
whom he spoke were quite ignorant of the
sacrament of baptism, he explained that, " When
people repented of their sins and wished to embrace
Christianity, they asked the missionary to baptise
them. This baptism, the pouring of water on the
head of a repentant man or woman, was a good
thing, but the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was
much better, for was it not the touch of God or
His Christ upon the heart of man ? He, Enosi,
was only a native like themselves, but he praised
God that this Baptism of the Holy Spirit had been
realised by him, and his daily prayer was, that
God would continually keep His hand on his
heart, so that it might be wholly clean, for then
he knew his life would be lived according to the

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 55

will of God, and he would prove himself a true
follower of Christ."

He pleaded with the Bwaidogan natives to
repent of their sins, and believe the Gospel which
was brought to them.

"If they required a proof of the truth and
reality of Christianity, surely they had such proof
in the presence of the missionaries among them.
If there were no God, and His Son had not died in
the stead of sinful man, why > had these missionaries
left their own land and come to tell them false-
hoods ? No ! he repeated ; the Gospel was God's
own Word, and he prayed that soon they might
be taught to accept that Word as their standard of
conduct."

»:?

i.

VICTORIANA :

CHAPTER VIII.

AN AWAKENING.

Nekumara was a small island near Dobu, with
a population of about one hundred people,
and was a very hot-bed of sorcery and witchcraft.
It was some years after the advent of the
missionaries that the people wished for a teacher
to be placed among- them, and only then the
request was made because it was hoped that his
presence among them might benefit them com-
mercially.

A New Guinea teacher was sent to them, and
he and his Christian wife did good work in
teaching the children in day and Sabbath school,
and in holding Gospel services on Sunday ; but for
years they saw no reward for their labour, the
people continuing their old heathen practices, and
appearing as indifferent and dark-minded as on the
day of their arrival. The events recorded in the
last two chapters, however, brought about a

change.

•

When the epidemic of measles was raging at
Dobu, the Nekumara people covered themselves
with patches of paint and shell charms, and con-
gratulated themselves that they had power to
ward off the sickness which had laid the people on
the surrounding islands low. But alas for their

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DRESSMAKING IN NEW GUINEA

BANYAN TREE.

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 57

boasted power ! their turn soon came, and almost
without an exception, men, women and children fell
victims to the prevailing sickness.

A few weeks after her return from Bwaidoga,
Victoriana visited this little island, and was much
struck with the changed attitude of the people.

Instead of making all sorts of excuses for
attending the short evangelistic services, they with
one accord gathered around, and joined heartily in
the singing and prayers. Some attended as many
as three services one after 'the other, and in one
village where about forty men, women and
children were grouped around the raised platform
where the sister sat, she felt compelled to tell them
how pleased she was to see their old indifference
had given place to such a desire for religious
services. Whereupon she was rather taken aback
to hear a man say, " Yes, sister, we have
determined to be different now, and intend to.
attend regularly as far as we can every service held
by you missionaries. During the last few years
we have had two hurricanes, a drought, a famine,
and an epidemic of measles. You missionaries say,
'All things come from God/ therefore we are afraid
that if we do not lay hold of His religion, He will be
sending some more of these things to our land, and
we do not want that ; therefore your services for
the future will always be well attended.

And this promise was fulfilled ; the teacher's
heart being gladdened by the presence of many at
morning and evening prayers, and by large con-
gregations on Sunday ; and He who has said,
"His Word shall not return to Him void, but shall
accomplish that which He pleased/' used the
preached Word to "convict many of sin, of right-
eousness and judgment to come/'

K
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58

VICTORIANA .

Some of the mission workers, realising what
was going on in the hearts of many, agreed to
join in prayer that some of these Nekumara people
might be speedily led to renounce heathenism, and
take their stand among the Christians.

Their prayers were answered in an unexpected
way.

A message came one day for a sister to go
and see a woman at Nekumara, who had been
badly bitten by a shark or crocodile. Victoriana
was away visiting in aViother direction, so the other
sister went off to attend to this case, and, after
some little time spent in arguing with the friends
of the injured woman, she was allowed to dress
the wounds, which were severe. She was after-
wards told she need not trouble to pay a second
visit, as the friends intended to take the patient
to another village some miles away.

Knowing that this was probably untrue, and
being desirous of saving the woman's life, if
possible, Victoriana went next morning and asked
to see the woman, and was met with the intimation
that she had been taken away to Apoa ; whereupon
one of the boys who had rowed the sister across,
remarked, "You are not speaking the truth ; for
1 have just come from Apoa, and she is not there."

"Oh, well," she said, "She has not gone yet,
but we are going to take her ; she is too much
hurt for you to attend to her ; she may get better
if she is left alone ; but if you put your foreign
medicines on her, she will probably die. Your
friend attended to her yesterday, and, as a result,
the woman could not sleep all night.'1

Victoriana found the house where the injured
woman lay, and calling her by name, asked if she
might enter ; and the woman answered, "1 wish

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 59

you would, sister, but my friends say you must
not/"

"If ypu wish it, J will come ;" and the sister
tried to push open the closed door, but in vain ;
for the broad back of a big woman was tirmly
planted against it.

For nearly an hour the sister talked to the
relatives about their foolishness in refusing to
allow proper remedies to be applied ; and at last,
knowing she had to be back at Dobu for school in
a few hours' time, she said, "Very well, then, 1
will say good-bye, but will make a note of the
names of those who have prevented me from
attending- to this woman's injuries, and when she
dies, as she will surely do if she is not attended to,
thei 'government will be informed that her death
mie'ht have been prevtented/'

There was a chorus of "Don't go yet, sister,
let us talk the matter over more fully."

"No," Victoriana said ; "there has been enough
talking ; my scholars will be waiting for me."

"If we allow you to attend to our friend's
wounds to-day, will that satisfy you, so that you
will not come back any more ?"

"No, that will not satisfy me ; I will want to
come each day until the woman is out of danger/'

"if you attend to her, do you think you can
cure her ?"

"Yes, I believe God will bless the remedies, and
she will get better."

Then a w.eak voice came from within the closed
house, saying, "Open the door for the sister, for
she is the only one who can help me;" and the
door was reluctantly opened to admit Victoriana
to the presence of the sick woman, who told her

•li'/!

VICTORIANA :

k

how glad she was that she had persisted in coming
to her, in spite of so much opposition. "1 know,
sister, if you come, as you have said you will,
until 1 am out of danger, that God will hear your
prayers and make me better, but if you leave me
to the care of the sorcerers, I shall die. I would
like to tell you that when I was returning with
my husband from a feast the night before last,
either a shark or a crocodile upset our canoe, and
sent us into the water, putting his teeth into my
body before 1 could scramble back into our boat.
When I knew I was so badly hurt, the thought came
to me that it was a punishment for my deceit of
the past few months. Several times I told the
teacher that I would become a Christian, and then,
because of the fear of ridicule, changed my mind.
While we were coming along in the canoe, my
husband wailed, but God talked to me, and told
me that it was because of His love to me that my
life was spared ; for whoever heard before of a
shark or crocodile letting go his hold of a victim :
they generally carry them away and devour them.
So, sister, I told Him if 1 got better I would
become His woman for ever."

"Have you asked Him to forgive all your
sins, and help you to be good ?" asked the sister.

"No, I don't need to do that, for I am always
good."

"What ! havte you never sinned ?"
"No."

"That is very strange," said the sister, for
the Bible says, 'All have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God.' In future, when I quote that
text, I will have to say, 'All have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, except Kamuamua (a
woman of Nekumara)/ will I not."

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 61

The woman thought for a moment, then said,
"No, don't say that, for it cannot be true. If the
Bible says everybody has sinned, I must have done
so without being aware of it."

Victoriana told her to ask God to show her
that she was a sinner, and then teach her that He
could save her from sin ; and the following day,
while the sister was dressing her wounds,
Kamuamua told her that, the night before, she had
repeated a short prayer atrain and again, until
she realised that she had done many wrong things,
and had then prayed that God would forgive her,
and she believed her prayer was answered, and that
she was now a Christian.

The sister felt ^lad to hear this, but wondered
if the good resolutions would hold good when
health was restored.

This lack of faith was afterwards reproved, for
after being confined to the house for three weeks,
Kamuamua went once more to church, and after
the service was over, she, with her husband and
six other young couples remained behind to. tell
the teacher that they all wished to become
Christians.

The following Sunday many more decided to
embrace Christianity, and so it went on, until
nearly all the young people of the island had joined
the Christian party ; and to-day, in many of the
villages, instead of the old incantations of
Heathenism, rise morning and evening songs of
praise unto the only true God.

Tn many hearts there is a saving belief in Jesus
Christ, the Saviour from sin.

A few of these people lapsed into the old
customs, but many remained true, and, two years

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62

VICTORIANA :

from the time when they first professed Christianity
were baptised and received into full membership of
the church, and to-day are showing by truly con-
sistent living, that a very radical change has
occurred in them.

Kamwamwa speaks brightly of the way she
was led to a knowledge of Christ, and no doubt
that knowledge more than compensated for the
pain and suffering caused by the crocodile's bite.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 63

CHAPTEK IX.

GOSPEL TRIUMPHS.

As a missionary sister, Victoriana had very
little work to do in connection with the boys and
young men of Papua. But throughout the ten
years of her work there, she could not but observe
the wonderful power of the Gospel over many of
them.

Thirty or forty of them have been placed out
with their Christian wives as teachers in heathen
villages, and the sister was often brought into
contact with them, and marvelled at the influence
and power they exercised over the people of their
districts. . i ij

When it is remembered that, fifteen years ago,
neither these young men or their parents had heard
the name of God, but were all living in the full
degradation of heathenism, it is marvellous that,
to-day, so many of them have been transformed
from indolent and cruel savages into industrious,
earnest evangelists, whose prayers and preaching
prove a grip of spiritual truths and simplicity of
faith which many of their more favoured white
brothers might covet.

Victoriana heard a short address given by one
of these teachers. The subject was holiness ; and
the preacher said "that it was God's will that eUl

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64

VICTORIANA :

should be sanctified, for all are the 'temples of the

Holy Ghost/ Your hearts, he said, belong to

Christ, and He is waiting to enter His temple.

Perhaps you say, 'He can enter, 1 have told Him

so ; but He will not !' Why does He not enter ?

Ah, friends, it is because you are living in sin —

you do wrong things, you say wrong things ; we

all do ; and our hearts are full of impure

thoughts ; therefore the Lord Jesus cannot come

in. When you invite a friend to visit you, do you

spread tin tacks all along the path he will have to

tread with his bare feet ? No ; of course you do

not. You make everything as smooth as possible

for a friend. Then how can you indulge in sin ?

Do you not know that sin in our hearts hurts the

Lord Jesus just as much as tin tacks would hurt

our bare feet ? Therefore, friends, let us ask Him

just now to take away all our sins, and give us

His Holy Spirit, that He may teach us always to

be holy."

A few months before Yictoriana's health broke
down and she had to leave Papua, at the quarterly
meeting held for teachers, a volunteer as teacher
in a heathen village fifty miles away was asked
for ; and from about twenty Papuans, no less
than six offered to leave home and friends, and
become ambassadors for Christ among people of a
strange tribe and tongue ; and Sailosi, the one
who was chosen by vote from among the six, is
doin'i- splendid pioneer work among cannibals who
at first threatened . to kill him, but have now
consented to his remaining in their village.

Truly, "The Lord hath done great things,
whereof His people are glad \"

COCOANUT PALM.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 65

CHAPTAR X.

MISSIONARY MEETINGS.

The annual missionary demonstration held in
1891 was a grand meeting, attended by about five
hundred people, all of whom gave something ; as
the people who had nothing to give remained at
home, saying they were ashamed to come.

The teachers led in the separate contingents
from their several districts ; each with his people
marched up to the platform with the contributions,
singing a well-known hymn. The money was
collected in wooden plates, and the native articles
of more or less value were received into baskets of
native manufacture.

After placing their gifts on the platform, the
contributors separated, the men taking their seats
on the floor at one side, and the women on the
other.

After all the village people had taken part, the
small girls and boys living on the station, dressed
in white, and decorated with garlands of leaves
and crimson hybiscus, marched in double line to
the centre of the church, singing a bright little
Dobuan marching song, accompanied by the
jingling pennies in empty milk tins.

The next detachment was a great contrast, for
as the tiny mites marched out one door, the

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66

VICTORIAN A :

thirty-two young men who were in training for
teachers, and longing to be sent out on pioneer
work, came in at the other. They were led by
their tutor, a Samoan teacher. This man was
dressed in English clothes, with the addition of a
short skirt made of strings of red parrots' feathers,
and a Samoan sailor hat.

This contingent of students and their wives,
with a few converts from their garden districts,
gave eighteen pounds in money, of which the
Samoan teacher contributed three, besides numbers
of native articles. The boys had been working
hard for some months at the drying of cocoanuts
for copra, and in making coooanut oil for sale to
the various trading establishments in Samarai and
Woodlarks.

The native minister was in charge of the
station girls, and the home section church members.
He brought his party into the church in very good
order, to the singing of a chant set to Dobuan
words of his own composition, and in order to
make as good an impression as the little children
had, the money was well shaken up in tins of all
shapes and sizes ; so one may well imagine the
charms of that musical item.

There was much noise, but there was more
than that, for there was generous giving as well,
Poatie's people giving over sixteen pounds between
them, and altogether the spirit of the people was
splendid.

The collections reached the grand total of
eighty pounds in money, and over three hundred
articles of native wealth, which, when sold, would
probably bring in another ten pounds.

When one remembers the characteristics of this
people, and how adverse they are to the giving of

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 67

even the smallest present without an equivalent,
one can understand the great change which has
taken place in so many of them to induce them to
give so willingly and cheerfully to the furtherance
of the mission cause, knowing full well that no
return present will be made to them.

The first year a missionary meeting was held,
there were many who asked for their return gift ;
but for the last two years they seem to have under-
stood clearly that they are giving to God, and
must not expect to have their gifts returned in
kind.

Before the meeting was closed with prayer, the
names of all contributors, and the amount given,
was read aloud by the missionary, amidst the
clapping of hands, and cries of "Thanks, Thanks,"
from the congregation.

Each year the interest in these meetings in-
creases, bringing a great many more contributors,
and larger offerings. Some of the people contribute
for themselves, their children, and their domestic
pets. One woman informed the sister that her dog!
was privileged to attend religious services, because
for two years she had contributed sixpence to the
mission funds in his name.

r~f

VICTORIANA

CHAPTER XI.

FEASTING AND TRADING

During the season of feasts, Victoriana was
very much interested in watching operations at
two or three large ones, held in different parts of
the district. To English eyes it scarcely seemed
like feasting.

One afternoon, when making her usual visit to
Taulu, she came upon a group of three or four
villages, where preparations for an immense feast
were in full swing. There must have been fully a
hundred people engaged in cooking operations.
Many of the women were paring the yams, while
others washed, and placed them in large black
pots lined with banana leaves, ready for boiling ;
others prepared bananas and bread-fruit for boiling
and roasting.

Large fires had been made in all directions,
and over many of them pigs and dogs were being
roasted whole. The men looked after this part of
the work, and also attended to the boiling; of sago
in cocoanut juice, and the baking of puddings of
the same in their stone ovens.

Victoriana arrived on the scene too late to see
whether the men cooks washed their hands before
commencing operations. These members did good
work in the mixing of the puddings, the dough

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 69

being taken up in small handfuls and rolled and
patted into shape between the palms, then very
deftly tied up in small pudding cloths of nature's
manufacture, and quickly placed in the ovens,
which were already heated, and no doubt, some
hours later, were thoroughly enjoyed by scores of
people, who would ask no questions about the
method of mixing them.

The strangest part of these feasts is, that
nothing is eaten on the premises. All the food,
when cooked, is divided, and carried off by the
people to their various villages, there to be
enjoyed in peace.

Some weeks later Victoriana saw another
feast in the same villages, but at this one the food
was all uncooked. One could not but be astonished
at the immense quantity of food which had been
gathered together.

In front of almost every house huge columns of
yams had been piled up, held together by a frame-
work made of strips of the sago palm. Many of
these frames must have been fifty feet in height,
and they looked very effective with many bunches
of bananas and strings of cocoanuts hanging
from the top.

In the space in front of the houses a semi-
circular platform was built, and yams were cleverly
arranged all around it in small heaps, while the
scaffolding above was used for the display of meat,
pork of all shapes and sizes being suspended from
the cross beams. In front of the chief's house was
hung a very good display of native wealth.

After admiring this very interesting exhibition,
which showed more cleverness, artistic taste, and
thoughtfulness for detail than mo&t people would
credit the natives with possessing, the sisters found

70

VICTORIANA

their way down to the beach to wait for the in-
coming canoes from the distant places.

The interest and beauty of the scene were
beyond all description.

The men, gaily decorated with paint and
colored feathers ; the women with their new
skirts of colored grasses ; the beach, as far as the
eye could reach, lined with canoes ; the blue sea,
glistening under the tropical sun, and the lovely
island of Dobu in the distance, made a picture one
could not easily forget.

It was presently enhanced, too, by the arrival
of many gaily decorated pleasure-seekers ; while
still, some distance from the shore, the occupants
of the canoes stood up and danced very gracefully,
keeping time to the music of their drums. Among
the dancers were men and women, standing, like
statues, with heavy weights on their heads. After
leaving the canoes, the people danced their way
into the chief's village.

On the arrival of the canoe which contained
the most honoured guests, about twenty women
formed into line, and marched around the raised
platform. When about half-way round, a great
shout was raised, which was a cry to God to give
them a good feast ; after which the women, in a
very business-like manner, proceeded to fill all the
baskets which had been left empty in front of each
house.

They marched from one end of the village to
the other, each putting two or three yams in every
basket.

A young man then climbed on to the platform,
and in an auctioneer-like voice called out the
names of thos*e who were to receive portions of
food. As these were pointed out, many willing

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 71

helpers quickly carried them away, and placed them
in front of the person whose name had been called.

The sisters were not forgotten, but received a
number of yams and a little pork, which delighted
the hearts of their girls.

About five o'clock they made a start for home,
gathering their flock of boys and girls as they
went along, and it was with very thankful hearts
that they stepped on to the boat with the same
number of girls as had set out with them in the
morning.

The friends of the girls had tempted them to
stay to take part in the night dancing, and perhaps
more evil customs, and the sisters had prayed
much that they might be given strength enough to
resist such temptations ; and their gratitude was
very great when their prayer was so fully
answered.

Gaganamori, the chief of Dobu, arranged for a
large trading expedition of his people to S alamo,
a place about nine miles away, and Taubada,
Marama, and the sister, with all the settlement
children, went across to witness this marketing
scene.

About eight o'clock in the morning
Gaganamori, with thirty-two canoes full of people,
arrived, and over a hundred other canoes came
from the surrounding islands. These primitive
vessels, anchored a few yards from the beach, full
of well-oiled and painted natives, made an
animated and exceedingly interesting picture.
Every available space on the canoes was loaded
up with trade articles, such as dried fish, shell
rtsh, cooking pots, cocoanuts, knives, axes, l>eads,
etc. A crowd of people lined the shore. Those on
the boats and on the shore must have numbered

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72

VICTORIANA

nearly two thousand ; and when the bush tribes
began to bring out their large bundles of native
sago, and immense baskets of yams, and taro,
bunches of bananas, grass skirts, etc., and ex-
changed them for the articles on the various
canoes, the scene was exceedingly animated and
picturesque.

It was entertaining to watch the different
commercial transactions being arranged. It was
evident that no man trusted the other. Chiefs
and villagers alike were treated with suspicion, and
cooking pots were placed in water to ascertain
whether they leaked ; knives, etc., were tested as
to sharpness ; and there was a general air of
watchfulness against possible trickery.

Some of the costumes were amusing.

The chief's wife was loaded with mourning
necklets and large shell ornaments. Being in
mourning, she did not court attention, but kept
herself almost hidden under a large mat, which
also served the purpose of an umbrella. The old
chief wore a white coat, loin cloth and turban. In
many instances a white coat was the sole garment
worn. One article of English clothing is sufficient
to compose a native's full dress, and the self-
satisfaction written on the face of the wearer is
well worth seeing, and not to be wondered at when
one notices the many admiring looks cast at him
from friends, and the covetous glances from
strangers as the happy possessor of a coat, vest
or shirt marches along.

By two p.m. all was over, and the dispersing
of the canoes made another never-to-be-forgotten
picture.

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A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 73

CHAPTER XII.

SICKNESS AND DEATH.

Perhaps the most trying experience in
Victoriana s missionary career was when, in the
absence of Taubada and Marama on a three weeks'
visit to a distant island where they hoped to open
up a new station, an epidemic of influenza occurred
among the settlement children and surrounding
villages.

The small steamer, with the missionary and his
wife on board, was scarcely out of sight when a
message came to the sister that Maiarani, a lad of
sixteen, was very ill. Victoriana went to him at
once, and found him in a high fever, and raving in
delirium. It was evident that some lung trouble
had taken strong hold of him, and it was with very
great difficulty that his temperature was reduced.
Towards ten o'clock that night he seemed better,
and the sister left him ; but at daylight next
morning he was again delirious, and would take
neither medicine or food until towards evening,
when he appeared to take a change for the better ;
but the improvement was only apparent, for he
died the same night.

Just before his death his face lighted up, and
in a loud voice he cried, "Bring me a canoe, that

^

74

VICTORIANA :

I may cross to the other side" ; then, with a sigh,
he passed away.

As Victoriana stood talking with the Fijian
teacher about the arrangements for the funeral,
word came that Meriani, the wife of the captain of
the mission schooner, was very ill, and the sister
had to hurry off to her house, and apply remedies
for internal inflammation.

One of the children, too, was brought to her,
suffering from erysipelas, and after this, all day
long, men, women and children kept coming to her
for medicine, and for nearly a week Victoriana gave
from fifty to one hundred doses each day.

Most of the people simply had heavy colds, but
in several cases the colds settled on the chest or
lungs, and for a fortnight Victoriana was kept busy
day and night nursing them and Meriani, who got
worse instead of better.

During that time the sister was only able to get
snatches of sleep, for as soon as she would throw
herself down on her bed for a few minutes' rest, a
message came from one of the sick ones, and she
had to get up and hurry to their aid.

The unusual strain of so much unaccustomed
responsibility told on Victoriana, and she was
greatly distressed when, at the end of the fortnight,
the captain's wife died, leaving her husband and
three little children to mourn her loss.

Shortly before she died, Meriani gave a bright
testimony of her trust in the Lord Jesus, for,
beckoning to her husband to stoop over her, she
put her arms around his neck and asked him to
train the children as Christians, so that one day
she might see them again in heaven.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 75

The day before the missionary and his wife
returned, a message was brought to the sister that
Daniela, one of the patients, was dying.

She hurried down to his house with a glass of
hot milk and some salvalatoli, and found him in a
fainting condition, with his wife and friends wailing
over him.

Victoriana dispersed the group of mourners,
and set them to work massaging the limbs of the
sick man, which were very cold, while she made
him drain the two glasses she held in turn to his
lips.

"It is no use my drinking them, sister," he
said in a very weak voice ; "the time has come for
me to say good-bye to you all, and go to heaven."

"Nonsense," said the sister ; "I don't believe
it is time for you to go to heaven ; there is too
much work for you to do here. Drink this, and
you will soon be better."

She had to force him to take the medicine and
milk, and then remain by his side for half an hour,
talking cheerfully of the work he was going to do
in the near future, when he admitted that he was
better, and not likely to enter heaven that day.

These natives have a custom of making up their
minds that they are going to die at a certain time,
and, strangely enough, they very often fulfil their
own prophecies.

So it was a great relief to Victoriana that in
this case the teacher recovered, and is still doing
splendid work among his own people.

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76

VICTORIANA :

CHAPTER Xni.

PAPUA'S NEED.

In Papua, the advent of the missionary
generally means the cessation of fighting and
cannibalism ; but occasionally the old nature
asserts itself, and Victoriana witnessed in one week
three exhibitions of this inherent savagery.

The first case was that of a man, who sat upon
a heap of stones in the village graveyard, and for
some time alternately howled like some wild animal
in pain, and shouted out vile language and threats
against the life of the man who had angered him.

The second occurred while the sister was
engaged in dressing the wounds of a man who had
been badly maltreated by a wild boar. This
animal had been captured by the villagers, and was
tied to a pole at the foot of the platform, where
the injured man lay. A great concourse of people
were gathered around the platform, wailing over
the man, who had fainted through pain and loss
of blood, when quite suddenly, to Victoriana' s
horror, the crowd fell back, and seven men, armed
with long spears, rushed forward, and with loud
yells of "Revenge, revenge for our relative," they
plunged the spears into the captive, and then
joined in a savage war dance round his body.

VILLAGE SCHOOL AT KIRIWINA.

CHIEF'S FOOD HOUSE, TROBIANDS.

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 77

A few days after this, Victoriana, while walking
along a bush path between two villages, heard the
sounds of fighting and screaming, and hurrying
on towards the last village, she saw six women
armed with long sticks, all apparently fighting,
until someone said, "Here's the sister," when five
of them fled, leaving one poor thing wringing her
'hands, and wailing loudly.

She had been severely knocked about by the
other five women, because some days previously
she had spread an untrue report of a member of
their family.

Contrasted with these trying scenes, were the
days when Victoriana took a seat in the midst of
a group of peaceful and intelligent villagers, busied
with their ordinary occupations, and talked to
them on spiritual things, and engaged them in
talking of their customs and beliefs, many of which
were very interesting.

They believe in the immortality of the soul,
and of a spirit-land reserved, not for the morally
good, but for the physically sound and the hand-
some of the earth.

Some say the chasm separating earth from
spirit land is bridged by a large snake, and only
those of whom he approves are allowed by him to
cross upon his body.

Others believe the connecting link between the
two worlds is a rolling log, upon which the
inhabitants of spirit land constantly keep their
gaze fixed, and when anyone is crossing, they look
very earnestly, and if they see the would-be
inhabitant of their land is good-looking, well-oiled
and decorated, they will steady the log, and stretch
out willing hands of assistance ; but, if the newly-
arriving spirit is deformed, emaciated, or

78

VICTORIANA

unadorned, they simply shake the log until the
spirit sinks into the chasm below.

They have a faint belief in a good spirit who
created man, and both old and young have a
strong belief in the presence and power of innumer-
able evil spirits, who are always on the watch for
opportunities to maim or destroy. These evil
spirits are supposed to possess men and women,
thus giving them the power of wizards and witches.

In almost every village there are some who
profess to have power to bewitch others, and cause
accidents and death.

One of the most revolting customs of the
people is the digging up of dead bodies, parts of
which are eaten by these pretenders, so that they
may have more power over the unseen world.

Victoriana nursed a professed witch through her
last illness, and prayed that she might never
again be brought into such close contact with one
who seemed to be verily possessed of the devil.
Boiakuta, some years before her death, had been
detected in eating part of the exhumed body of her
own sister, and was so feared by the people, that
when« she was taken ill, no one could be found
willing to minister to her necessities, and, but for
the sister's help, she would have starved to death.

Oh ! The horror of the thought that within
three days' steam of Australia, hundreds of such
horrible incidents connected with witchcraft and
cannibalism are of daily occurrence.

Though the missionaries labouring in Papua
have the joy of seeing many savage cannibals
changed into honest, industrious, peace-loving
citizens, and women who have practised these soul-
revolting customs of witchcraft, sorcery and

7

A MISSIONARY SISTER IN NEW GUINEA. 79

m

3

infanticide transformed into gentle, teachable,
child-like Christians, yet only the fringe of
Australia's new possession has been touched either
by civilisation or Christianity. And Victorian a
would plead with all who have the welfare of the
human race at heart, to join in prayer, and work
for the evangelisation of these thousands of human
beings, who, almost at our very doors, are to-day
dwelling in utter darkness.

FINIS.

H.TH ACKER,
PRINTER, GEELONO.

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